By Leslie Lindsay

 We love to read at our house.  A lot.  In fact, as I sit here at my desk I am surrounded by six books of nearly six different genres.  Not to mention the two book cases directly behind and to my right filled with volumes of more titles. 

Where did this love of reading come from?  Hard to say–but my guess is I learned to enjoy reading from my childhood.  Dad read to me every evening, and mom was always reading something for her own pleasure or education.  And now, as a parent, I do the same thing with my children. 

In fact, just the other evening I read this darling children’s book, Rocket Writes a Story by Tad Hills. (He has another book, too: How Rocket Learned to Read, also very cute). 

So when my 6 year old curled up onto my lap and said, “Mommy, read me a story,” I pulled the metaphorical blanket of nostalgia around us and reached for Rocket Writes a Story. 

It begins as many tales do–with the positive words and self-confidence of “I can do that!”  You see, Rocket is a dog.  He loves stories.  He loves to read them, that is.  So, he gets this idea that he can write one as well.  (image source: www.Amazon.com 4.5.13)

See where I’m going with this? 

But Rocket doesn’t know how to write a story–heck–he’s barely learned to read!  Follow along as Rocket collects new words for his word tree (“use that nose of yours to sniff out some new words.”), seeks inspiration (“he looked at the blank page, but nothing would come…write what excites you!”) He writes–and rewrites–everyday.  Finally, he shares his masterpiece with his teacher, a little yellow bird. 

Reading this book with my kindergarter at bedtime was like curling up in my own parent’s arms and hearing, “You can do it.  Just write what inspires you.  Look for words.  Do it everyday. When things are going well, you will wag your tail.  When you don’t know what to write, you might growl…and then you may need to walk out into the meadow to look for inspiration.” 

Today, I am not sharing my work in progress.  Instead, it’s all about the elementary aspects of writing…the passion, the desire, the words.   

For more information on Tad Hills, see: http://tadhills.com/

[Disclaimer:  The Rocket books are books owned by my family.  No compensation for this post has been accepted.  The author of this post has no personal or professional connection to Tad Hills or the Rocket books]